A range of special programs on population on ABC Radio National

At some time towards the end of this month the earth’s human population will reach 7 billion. At the end of the last millennium—only 13 years ago—there were 6 billion of us. In 1825 there was just 1 billion.

The exact moment we reach this latest milestone will, of course, remain a mystery, but the United Nations has picked out 31 October as the most likely day. The 7 billionth baby may be born in a part of the world where fertility rates are high—Africa, Asia, Oceania or Latin America. Poverty and conflict are almost certainly destined to be part of that child’s life.

Yet the honour might also go to a baby born in a nation where birth rates are falling - such as Japan, Germany or even China sometime in the next 20 years.

Since 1950 the global fertility rate has halved as women have had fewer children, either by choice or by government policy. Currently, 42 per cent of the world’s population live in nations where the birth rate is considered too low: where the number of babies being born is too low to replace their parents. More and more countries will face the economic challenges of smaller populations of working age, and increasing need for aged care and support.

This is just one of the contradictions and complexities of population growth we need to understand.

Over the weekend of 29 and 30 October, ABC Radio National is taking a look at what going beyond 7 billion will mean.

Across a range of special programs we’ll explore the often surprising realities of the population story, from the urgent needs of poverty and hunger to the creative challenges of living sustainably and adjusting to inevitable social and cultural change.

Program Guide

Professor Matthew Connelly of Columbia University, New York, travels to India to see first-hand what he describes as a key battleground in the war on population growth. Professor Connelly documents a global campaign that began with the best humanitarian ideals, but which has led to authoritarian control over some of the world's poorest citizens.

The latest UN projections forecast that global population will exceed 10 billion people by the end of the century. But not everyone shares this view. Projections by Danny Dorling, Professor of Human Geography at the University of Sheffield, suggest that in a century from now there may well be fewer people in the world than there are today. He believes this will lead to a more equitable world in which passports and borders are no longer necessary.

Also on the program, Indian born social scientist Dr Purnima Mane, deputy head of the United Nations Population Fund, discusses the links between population growth, birth control, development aid and women's rights.

In the 1990s a German social scientist named Gunnar Heinsohn coined the phrase “youth bulge”, referring to when 30 per cent of men in the population are between 15 and 29, Heinsohn suggested that this large percentage of youth often led to civil unrest and revolution.

The “youth bulge” has been used to explain the Arab Spring, when many young protestors took to the streets across North Africa and the Middle East this year.

But now that dictators have been toppled, and new governments are being formed, what will this large, potentially volatile population mean for the future of the Middle East?

Robyn Williams talks to Paul Erhlich, professor of population studies at Stanford University, California, and author of the 1968 bestseller The Population Bomb. Where does he think we have travelled since his groundbreaking book; where does he think we're heading?

Saturday 29 Oct and Monday 31 Oct 1–2pm, repeated Tuesday 1 Nov 2.05am
High density living is great for the environment, right? But what does it do to our heads and hearts?
The Australian psyche was moulded by the myth of the ‘wide brown land', so what might life packed like sardines look and feel like?
With the world's 7 billionth person about to be born, can we learn from the Asian megacity experience?
And will we still be sharing a cup of sugar with our neighbours? As the population debate gets mental, we're going in search of the soul in urban sprawl.
A forum featuring Bernard Salt, Kim Dovey, Helen Killmier, and Sein-Way Tan, hosted by ABC Radio National's Natasha Mitchell at The Wheeler Centre.
NOTE: This special forum means All In the Mind and The Philosopher's Zone will not run as usual.

360documentaries is heading to a village in Java to spend time with Eros, a snack-seller and mother of 25 children. Eros and her husband describe how religion, traditional belief that bigger families are better, and her body's rejection of contraception conspired to keep her almost constantly pregnant, and poor.

'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth,' says God in the book of Genesis. Today, with the global population hitting 7 billion, can we now say we've filled the Earth, and set the commandment aside? Or should we be more worried about declining fertility rates? This week Encounter explores the theology, the ethics and environmental issues behind the population debate.

People love to hate him, but when historian Alison Bashford stumbled across the 1803 edition of Malthus's ‘Essay on the Principle of Population', an updated version of the first publication in 1798, she saw the British parson and political economist in a whole new light. The 1803 edition contained extra chapters, one of which examined population through the experience of the young colony of NSW. Alison Bashford began to realise that there was a great deal more in Malthus's thesis than had been assumed—his study of the New World raised questions about colonialism, occupation, land, and how we share it— deeply moral and enduring concerns, which the contemporary world continues to grapple with.

How to feed the world in 2050? In the first half of this century, as the world's population grows to around 9 billion, global demand for food, feed and fibre will nearly double. Increasingly, crops may also be used for bio-energy and other industrial purposes. These trends will put growing pressure on already scarce agricultural resources. So will we be able to produce enough food at affordable prices by 2050 or will rising food prices drive even more of the world's population into poverty and hunger? Join our very own Fran Kelly and a panel of experts to find out

In Australia our growing and ageing population is putting increasing pressure on our retirement system. Many Australians aren't saving enough for their later years—a problem compounded by falling home ownership rates and volatile share markets. So how can Australia better fund its retirement needs?

RIO+20 UN Earth Summit: Can We Put the World on a Path to a Sustainable Future? Join two environmental leaders as they discuss the historic gathering in Rio de Janeiro of top world leaders who will examine the environmental and economic challenges facing the world today.